John Paul College Principal, Mrs Karen Spiller (OAM) has today received her Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) from His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC at the Investiture Ceremony at Government House in Brisbane.

Mrs Spiller’s award was announced in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her service to women and her service to education, specifically as:

Chair, Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia, current; Member, since 2006.

Earlier this month, Mrs Spiller was also awarded honorary membership of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia (AGSA), the highest honour the Alliance bestows. The award recognises outstanding women and men who have made a significant contribution to the Alliance and to girls’ education and who have shown general advocacy for women’s rights and equality.

“The John Paul College board congratulates Karen on her OAM and her recent AGSA honorary membership award,” said Chair of the Board, Helen Weissenberger. “Karen’s passion for educating children and leading our College is palpable. We are continually impressed with her wealth of professional experience and leadership acumen. She is an exceptional advocate for leadership development of our staff and students.”

Prior to joining John Paul College in January 2018, Karen was the Principal at the highly respected St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School.

She established the multi-award winning annual Aspiring Women Leaders conference in 2006 and has also delivered similar programs for the Associations of Independent Schools of NSW (AISNSW) and Western Australia (AISWA).

In 2011 Karen was awarded a Churchill Fellowship ‘to examine strategies for preparing female leaders for the position of Principalship in Australian schools’.

In 2013 Karen was awarded Fellow of The CEO Institute and appointed a Fellow of Bond University and Principal in Residence.

Karen is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Australian Human Resources Institute, the Australian Council for Educational Leaders and the Australian College of Educators. She is also the Deputy Chair of Independent Schools Queensland.

“I am humbled by this award. Teaching and inspiring academic excellence have been my life’s work and I am both humbled and honoured to be receiving the Medal of the Order of Australia,” said Karen Spiller OAM, Principal, John Paul College.